Kansas University’s division of information services will have new leadership next summer.

Marilu Goodyear, vice provost for information services, announced Monday that she will step down in July 2005 for a one-year research fellowship, then return to a faculty position at KU. She will be replaced by Denise Stephens, a former KU librarian now in charge of libraries at Syracuse University.

“My main decision was to go to a faculty position instead of being vice provost,” said Goodyear, who will be a research fellow with the EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research in Boulder, Colo. “I’ve been an administrator for 22 years, and that’s quite a time commitment from a time perspective. I’m really interested in doing more research.”

Goodyear has led the information services division since 1999. The division includes technology, networking, printing and library services.

Goodyear has been at KU since 1996 and previously was at Texas A&M University.

She said her research at EDUCAUSE, which is a national higher education information technology association, will focus on the role mentoring plays in developing middle managers for university information programs. KU has a mentoring program for developing women managers, and Goodyear said EDUCAUSE officials approached her about applying that program to a national perspective.

She will return to a faculty position in the department of public administration in 2006, conducting research in information policy and public management.

Goodyear said she listed advances in KU’s digital library offerings and installation of financial, human resources and student management software systems among her biggest accomplishments during her time in charge of information services.

Stephens, who starts in July, returns to KU after three years at Syracuse, including serving as acting university librarian since January. She previously was associate university librarian for public services.

She worked at KU in 2000 and 2001 as head of Anschutz Library, KU’s second-largest library. She also has worked at the University of Virginia and the University of Oklahoma.

“We were able to accomplish quite a bit (at KU) and now we can accomplish even more,” Stephens said. “There’s a very clear vision for the future that I want to be part of.”

She said she thought KU’s information systems were in good shape despite two major breaches that were reported in the last two years. In one, someone hacked into the system and stole personal information about international students. In the other, pharmacy records from Watkins Health Center were stolen.

“I think the system is as secure as any large system with thousands of people accessing it can be,” Stephens said. “The only way to absolutely eliminate the possibility of a worm or some other invader that compromises your system literally is to shut it down.”

KU typically appoints a search committee for open administrative positions, but David Shulenburger, provost and executive vice chancellor, said he didn’t feel that was necessary for Stephens’ hiring.

“This is a direct-hire process,” Shulenburger said. “When we find somebody who meets what the objective of the university is we can engage in a direct hire. We found the right person in Denise and went right to her. She’s someone who’s very much sought after by other universities. Our ability to move quickly allowed us to hire her.”